Day 13

---

The first stop today was the Duome where we climbed the 463 steps to the top of the dome. It was a pretty great view of the city from up there, but I'm sure we are to see many more like, if not better, than this one. I am pretty sure that I heard that no modern building was allowed to tower above the height of the dome. So it meant that all of the flat-ish city could be seen from this perspective. Next, eventhough I was hoping not to spend any money, we decided to check out the large market square where they mostly sold leather purses, belts, cashmere and wool scarves, and silk fabrics. At the front of the market stands a bronze boar with a perculiarly shiny nose and a small trickle of water "drooling" from its mouth. We found out that it was a tradition to rub his nose, put a coin in his open mouth and let it fall out into the little grate below. They say that if the coin successfully passes through the slats in the drain, then you will return to Florence in the future (which I found funny because it's nearly impossible to miss...although Jo managed). Next we went to visit a museum with many sculptures in it. Most of the sculptures were of a mythological theme (which was handy to have Jo along due to her vast knowledge of mythological loar). But there was one sculpture in perticular that caught my eye. It probably did mostly because it looked so much more modern than the others and seemed to be of a theme that didn't quite fit in with the others. It was a young boy who was spear-fishing. The way he was sitting is so typical of a child. He was squating on a rock with his long spear lying across his shoulder clutching the precious and curious fish in his hands. He reminds me a bit of Peter Pan. Later we ended the day by spending some much needed time washing our clothes (Pew! We needed it!)

---